THE BLACK BEAR. 251 



distance, as if waiting for my death, and I could not 

 tempt one of them within reach of my gun. Soon 

 there was a scarcity of frogs, as well as of snails and 

 water. The further I advanced through the plain, 

 the more deserted it hecanie ; yet still I dragged my 

 weary way along. 



Everything now maddened me, I was in such a 

 state of nervous excitement. The noise of the flying 

 cranes was j^ainful to my ear, and the emanations 

 from the soil were oppressive to my sense of smell. 

 A fresh breeze made me reel and stagger like a 

 drunken man. I began to entertain strange fancies. 

 I thought I saw before me an army, bearing flags of 

 a thousand diflerent colours ; I could see large 

 sheets of water in the distance reflecting the rays 

 of the sun — deceitful mirages which receded as I 

 advanced towards them. 



But it was during the night, chiefly, that I saw the 

 most extraordinary sights. The stars seemed to be 

 shooting arrows, and the moon showed me her 

 teeth. I was trembling with cold, and thought I 

 was plunged in an ocean of ice, for the bowlings of 

 the wolves were like the murmur of the waves and 

 the noises of the storm. My blood boiled in my 

 veins, and yet my limbs were paralysed, as if they 

 were alread}' seized by the cold hand of death. I 

 thought that I was cut in half; that my body had dis- 

 appeared, and that my feet were no longer connected 

 with my legs. The torpor which weighed me down 



